1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a vehicular sliding roof or sunroof device.
2. Prior Art
In general, typical conventional or prior art sliding roof devices are made up of
(a) a pair of laterally spaced guide rails provided at inner peripheries of an open area formed in a vehicular roof panel, the guide rails supporting a movable panel in movable fashion in order to open and closes the open area;
(b) a front frame connecting a front end of one of the guide rails and a front end of the other, the front frame and the pair of the guide rails constituting a sunroof frame; and
(c) a driving mechanism including a motor, a gear mechanism driven by the motor, an output gear associated with the gear mechanism, a geared cable engaged with the output gear in meshing fashion and connected to the movable panel for the movement thereof when the motor is turned on, and a casing pipe through which the geared cable is passed in movable fashion.
For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (So-called xe2x80x98KOKAI KOHOHxe2x80x99) No.Hei.6-106985 published in Apr. 19, 1994 (6th year of Heisei) which discloses one of the conventional or prior art sliding roof devices which has the aforementioned structure, the geared cable is in meshing engagement with the output gear in a box which is placed outside the frame. The box is formed of a metal due to the fact the box has to have a sufficient mechanical strength, which results in that the sliding roof device becomes heavy in weight. Also, the box is in the form of a separation member relative to the frame, which leads to an increase of the number of parts of the sliding roof device. Moreover, in the foregoing structure, after connecting the casing pipe to the box, the resulting box is secured to the frame, with the results that such a securing is very cumbersome.
In addition, the casing pipe is secured to the guide rail. In detail, a joint which is in the form of iron plate is connected to the distal end of the casing pipe by brazing and the resulting joint is connected to the guide rail by screw while the casing pipe is inserted into the guide rail. However, the aforementioned securing of the casing pipe to the guide rail has the following drawbacks: The brazing cost becomes high. The inevitable high temperature in brazing may deform the casing pipe. Using the joint as a separate element increases the number of parts and making the assembly operation more cumbersome. The screw connection between the joint and guide rail has to be done without interference of the joint with the guide rail, which requires very precious brazing. In summary, connecting the casing pipe to the guide rail becomes complex in construction, high in cost, and cumbersome in assembly.
Thus, a need exists to provide, for overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks, a sliding roof device
The present invention has been developed to satisfy the request noted above and a first aspect of the present invention provides a sliding roof device which comprises:
a pair of laterally spaced guide rails provided at inner peripheries of an open area formed in a vehicular roof panel, the guide rails supporting a movable panel in movable fashion in order to open and close the open area;
a front frame connecting a front end of one of the guide rails and a front end of the other, the front frame and the pair of the guide rails constituting a sunroof frame; and
a driving mechanism including a motor, a gear mechanism driven by the motor, an output gear associated with the gear mechanism, a geared cable engaged with the output gear in meshing fashion and connected to the movable panel for the movement thereof when the motor is turned on, and a casing pipe through which the geared cable is passed in movable fashion,
characterized in that a housing and a box are provided, the housing placing the output gear outside the sunroof frame, the housing accommodating therein the gear mechanism, the box being formed integrally with the sunroof frame, the box covering the meshing engagement between the geared cable and the output gear.
In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, the box is formed integrally with the sunroof frame i.e. the sunroof frame has, as its own portion, the box, which makes it possible to connect or mount the driving mechanism to the sunroof frame when the housing is fixed to the box for covering the meshing engagement between the geared cable and the output gear. Thus, in comparison with the conventional or prior art sliding roof device, the number of parts can be decreased in addition to the decreasing of the steps for assembly.
In addition, due to the fact that the box is formed of resin, the weight of the box is lighter than a metal-made box such as iron-made box and the shape of the box can be formed in desired state for reinforcing the portion which covers the meshing engagement between the geared cable and the output gear. Thus, the box comes to be in a preferable mode.
At an inner surface of the box a supporting member is preferred to be provided to ensure the meshing engagement between the geared cable and the output gear. Such a structure restricts the damages of the cable and the box which result from the sliding engagement between the geared cable and the inside surface of the box when the geared cable is pulled and pushed in the box. Such a structure makes it possible to restrict the outward displacement of the geared cable from the engagement between the geared cable and the output gear.
More preferably, a holding hole is desired to be provided at a side wall of the box for holding a casing pipe which extends into the box from an outside thereof and through which the geared cable passes in movable fashion. Such a structure makes it possible to mount the casing pipe to the box at the same time when the box is fixed with the housing.
A second aspect of the present invention is to provide a sliding roof device which comprises:
a pair of laterally spaced guide rail provided at inner peripheries of an open area formed in a vehicular roof panel, the guide rails supporting a movable panel in movable fashion in order to open and close the open area;
a front frame connecting a front end of one of the guide rails and a front end of the other, the front frame and the pair of the guide rails constituting a sunroof frame; and
a driving mechanism including a motor, a gear mechanism driven by the motor, an output gear associated with the gear mechanism, a geared cable engaged with the output gear in meshing fashion and connected to the movable panel for the movement thereof when the motor is turned on, and a casing pipe through which the geared cable is passed in movable fashion,
characterized in that one of the guide rails has a groove which extends in its lengthwise direction, the groove being fitted with one end of the casing pipe and receiving the geared cable for its guidance, one end of the casing pipe has an insertion portion which is inserted in the groove and a flange portion which is set to be larger than the insertion portion in radius for restricting a length of the insertion of the insertion portion into the groove, the front frame is provided with a supporting portion which is placed at opposite side of the insertion portion and which supports the casing pipe along a direction of the insertion of the casing pipe into the groove.
In accordance with the second aspect of the present invention, for mounting the casing pipe to the guide rail, first of all, the front frame is connected to the lengthwise end of the guide rail, in the vertical direction, after supporting the casing pipe at the A supporting portion of the front frame. At this time, the supporting portion supports the potion of the casing pipe which is opposite to the insertion portion with respect to the flange portion. Next, under the condition that the casing pipe is supported at the supporting portion, the insertion portion of the casing pipe is inserted or fitted in the groove along its lengthwise direction. Due to the fact that the flange portion is set to be larger than the insertion portion of the casing pipe, engaging the flange portion with the end of the groove restricts the insertion length of the casing pipe. Under the resulting condition, connecting the guide rail to the front frame makes it a regulation of the displacement of the casing pipe along the lengthwise direction of the groove after insertion of the casing pipe into the groove. Consequently, no conventional joint is required for connecting the casing pipe to the guide rail, which brings in that brazing operation becomes unnecessary for the. connection of the joint to the casing pipe, with the result that the connecting structure between the casing pipe and the guide rail becomes much simpler and the related cost can be restricted or reduced.
Preferably, the sliding roof device is desired to have a structure wherein the supporting portion of the front frame has a concave portion corresponding to an outer profile of an opposite portion of the insertion portion of the casing pipe so as to be engagement therewith when the sunroof frame is connected to the guide rail. Such a structure makes it possible to restrict a displacement of the casing pipe toward the front frame, resulting in a preferred condition.
Preferably, the sliding roof device is desired to have a structure wherein the front frame makes a =right angle relative to the guide rail such that a corer portion is defined therebetween, the casing pipe extends along the front frame including the corner portion, the casing pipe is supported at an extension extending from the corner portion. Such a structure makes it possible to restrict a displacement of the casing pipe away from the front frame, which results in a preferable condition.